I dont like to say I told you so, BUT

“Is it just me or does anyone else think that the chances of Australia hosting the World Cup sit somewhere between Buckley’s and none. It is bad enough that the Federal Govt has ploughed $46 million into the bid without the utterly scandalous decision to spend billions of dollars on a series of rectangular white elephants.

While there will be those who argue that Sydney’s hosting of the Olympics proves “we” can handle any major event, it needs to be pointed out that stark difference between the two events. Firstly, the Olympics, with the exception of some rubbish soccer games, were based in Sydney which allowed sports events to be managed to fit in with broadcast needs, particularly the USA. The Olympics, despite the protestations of John Coates and his trough feeding mates, barely rates a ripple internationally. The World Cup is in another universe by comparison.
This brings me to my main point. Why would broadcasters and every sector of the media pay the billions of dollars that FIFA sucks out of this hoopla when the vast majority of games will be on at times when the majority of the world’s soccer fans are asleep, and not because another scoreless draw? Unless FIFA plans on playing games at all hours of the day and night there is no way the media will pay the big bucks. It would be commercial suicide. So, unless we can tow the Australian continent 8hrs east or west, I would suggest that the money ear marked for this feast of football is put towards something more viable. Like the odd hospital or 200″

After the inevitable hand wringeing and calls for a United Nations enquiry I think Mr Lowry and Co should go back to the A League where they are best suited. This was never gonna happen. Even funnier though was England getting tossed out with only two votes.

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I would have thought that if you were going to reprise something to show how right you were that you might have spent a little time getting rid of the things that were wrong.

Your ‘main point’ is utterly wrong for a start. The games would have been broadcast when Europeans were wide awake (around midday — 1 pm) and when Americans were getting out of bed (around 6-8 am). In the height of summer/holiday season soccer fans around the world would have been happy enough with the timing.

It’s Lowy not Lowry.

But as I said at the time, I agree that we were an unlikely host and I wasn’t all that concerned. The thing that worried me most was that the infrastructural legacy would not have benefited soccer all that much. Your ‘spend billions of dollars on a series of rectangular white elephants’ is a sheer fantasy of your own construction. Whereas plenty of money would have been poured into oval stadium improvement.

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